Sydney 'Crime Figure' Gunned Down In City's Southwest

The dead man is said to have family links to the Italian mafia.

Getty Images/iStockphotoBlue and white Police tape cordoning off a area with a yellow car at a industrial area, Australia 2016

Police are investigating after a reputed Sydney crime figure was savagely gunned outside a house in the city's southwest overnight.

In what is believed to be a targeted shooting, Pasquale Barbaro, 35, was taken out on an Earlwood street about 9.40pm on Monday. It's reported that he was shot multiple times, including at least once to the head and was treated at the scene but couldn't be revived.

Barbaro is said to be the grandson of Pasquale Barbaro, who was killed in 1990, while his uncle is reportedly serving a 30-year prison sentence on drugs charges.

Police said in a statement that a vehicle, an Audi Q7, may have been involved in the shooting. It was found later burnt out in the suburb of Concord.

"All I can tell you is a grey Audi Q7 was seen leaving the scene and a similar vehicle, make and model, was found burnt out which we believe to be linked ... although clearly that vehicle has been towed for forensic examination," a police spokesman told reporters on Tuesday.

Author of a book on the Barbaro family, Busted, Keith Moor shares some insights in who Pasquale Barbaro was...

Authorities said Barbaro was known to them and called on the public for information. However police conceded that people with info may fear coming forward "given the sort of nefarious activities these people are engaged (in)".

It wasn't yet know what Barbaro was doing at the Earlwood address, the police spokesman said.

"I don't know what the victim was doing at that house," he said. "That has yet to be established. He was, I understand, visiting someone in that street. But, as I said, those inquiries are still being made."

Local resident Charlie Colosimo told the ABC he heard a loud noise around the time of the shooting on Larkhall Avenue.